EP0751073A1

EP0751073A1 - Closure for containers of liquid, granular or powdery products

Info

Publication number: EP0751073A1
Application number: EP96110282A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Gianpaolo Belloli
Original assignee: Catta 27 Srl
Current assignee: Catta 27 Srl
Priority date: 1995-06-27
Filing date: 1996-06-26
Publication date: 1997-01-02
Also published as: IT1279964B1; ITBO950321A1; US5725121A

Abstract

A closure (1) for a container (2) of liquid, granular or powdery products, comprises: a hub (5) defined by a tubular central body (5a), an upper free edge (5b) and a base (5c) fixed outside the cited container (2) and peripherally external to the pouring opening (4) of this latter; a cap (6) removably matchable to the hub (5) in correspondence to a closed condition (C) of the closure (1); a sheet element (7) peripherally welded to the upper edge (5b) of the hub (5) and removable in correspondence to a condition of first fruition (F) of the product packaged inside the container (2); hooking means (10) fit to join the cap (6) to the hub (5) in correspondence to the closed condition (C).

Description

The present invention concerns the technical field of packaging liquid, granular or powdery products both alimentary and not.
Particularly the present invention refers to a closure fastened to a semi-stiff cardboard container of liquid, granular or powdery products, particularly suitable for sealing, since packaging, the pouring opening of the container and for saving the aroma of the packaged product after its first fruition from the container.
It is known that currently containers of liquid, granular or powdery products are diffused, such as, for drinks or detergents, made by means of semi-stiff sheet material, suitably folded up and welded.
Such containers, generally with parallelepipedal shape, at the upper part are folded and closed by means of a transversal welding of the opposite edges in such a way that the top is almost flat or has two main pitches sloping toward the external of the container.
Recently, such containers are provided with "opening-closing" systems, also called "open and close", fastened to the edges of the pouring opening carried out on the top of such semi-stiff containers.
Systems are known mainly constituted by a cap screwable to a hub previously welded on the edge of the pouring opening. The tightness of the packaged product is so achieved through the tight stop of the inner top of the cap onto the free top of the hub.
Another known "open and close" system is based on the sticking of a tab closing-opening device onto the edge, outside the container, of an opening always carried out on the upper top of the container. This device consists both of a base glued to the container and having normally a spout fit to facilitate the pouring of the packaged product, and of a hinged tab removably matchable to said base so as to make a tight closure of the container. The more recent embodiments of these last systems include the covering of the pouring opening carried out on the container with a removable or tearable strip of suitable water-repellent material that is glued on the edges of the same opening in such a way to make a kind of "manufacturer warranty" and "tightness" for the product packaged inside the container before its initial fruition. This strip lies between the container and the tab of the "open and close" device.
These last "open and close" systems also include the sticking of the tab device in correspondence to a suitably pre-cut zone of the upper top of the container in such a way that a spike, hinged to the base of the tab device, could be pressed inwardly the container so as to pierce the underlying pre-cut zone of the container, and therefore open this latter allowing the fruition of the contained product.
The main drawback of such "open and close" systems is that they are made by using an extremely expensive thermoplastic die and a likewise expensive machine using the same die to carry out such closures. Both the die and the machine and the plastic material used for such closures affects notably on the single making price of each closures.
Further disadvantage is that such closures are fixed to containers of liquid, granular or powdery products that normally must be quickly consumed because they are "fresh" products such as milk and fruit juices. In fact, once one of such containers is opened for its first fruition it is necessary to consume briefly the remaining packaged product even if the container closure is hermetic. This latter, therefore, is only an "aroma saving cap" and the common closures, often hermetic, are extremely expensive for making the simple aroma-saving function or for insulating temporarily the packaged product from the external environment.
The containers using these closures emphasize this latter disadvantage of the known closures because they have both reduced capacity, related to the quantity of packages product that normally is consumed during the first fruition, and extremely high total cost for the container with the closure, as regards the intrinsic value of the packaged product.
The objects of the present invention are to propose a closing-opening device of a container of liquid, granular powdery products able to avoid all the previously exposed drawbacks that the technical solutions, known till now, have.
The main object is therefore to propose a closure able to tight seal the container onto which it is fixed hermetically and, once the seal is removed, to allow a subsequent closure of the relative container simply with the aroma-saving function of the packaged product.
Another object is to propose a closure having a hub fastenable onto the external surface of the container both before its filling and after the product, to be packaged, is already dosed therein.
A further object is to propose a closure able to fulfil the indispensable hygienic rules for the good maintenance of the product packaged inside the container when this latter is both sealed or already opened, besides facilitating the pouring of the product from the container.
Further object of the present invention is to propose a closure of simple fastening, easy usage, safety tightness and extremely contained cost.
The aforesaid objects are achieved according to the content of the claims.
The characteristic features of the present invention are pointed out in the following description with reference to the enclosed drawings, in which:

Figure 1 shows a side sectional view of the closure object of the present invention at the opened configuration;
Figure 2 shows an axonometric view of the opening phase of the seal inside the closure;
Figure 3 shows a side sectional view of the closure at the closed configuration;
Figure 4 shows an axonometric view of a second embodiment of the closure;
Figure 5 shows a side sectional view of the closure according to a third embodiment;
Figure 6 shows an axonometric view of the opening phase of the seal inside the closure of figure 5;
Figure 7 shows a side sectional view of the closure of Figure 5 at the closed configuration.

With reference to Figures from 1 to 3, numeral 1 indicates a closure for a container 2 of liquid, granular or powdery products, preferably of parallelepipedal shape with a flat top 3 having a poring opening 4 thereon.
This closure 1 includes a hub 5 having a removably cap 6 hinged thereto, both preferably with cylindrical or frustum of cone shape.
The hub 5 is defined by a tubular central body 5a, an upper free edge 5b and a base 5c welded onto the external wall of the top 3 of the container 2 in such a way to circumscribe entirely the pouring opening 4. This base 5c preferably includes a flange outwardly protruding as regards the central body 5a and having a flat surface fit to be fixed to the external flat wall of the top 4 of the container 2.
The cap 6, hinged to the base 5c of the hub 5 through a flexible tongue 14, is movably joinable to the hub in correspondence to a closed condition C of the closure 1 where the cap 6 covers the hub 5 until the closed bottom 6a of the cap 6 stops next to the free upper edge 5b of the hub 5. This cap 6 is moreover fit with a protruding external edge 6b in correspondence to the opened bottom of this latter so as to facilitate the grip.
The tongue 14 forms a single block with the cap 6 and the hub 5, but this does not remove the possibility that it must be simply welded to these latter.
A sheet element 7 is peripherally welded hermetically to the upper edge 5b of the hub 5. This element 7 has a tongue 7a protruding from its side edge by virtue of which the removal of the sheet element from this hub 5 is easer in correspondence to a condition of the first fruition F of the product packaged inside the container 2.
It is moreover scheduled the usage of hooking means 10 fit to maintain joined the cap 6 to the hub 5 in correspondence to the closed condition C of the closure 1.
Such hooking means 10 include first members 11 carried out on the inner side surface of the cap 6 and second members 12 carried out on the side wall of the central body 5a of the hub 5.
The first members 11 are formed with a ring protrusion 11a lying on a plain orthogonal to the axle of the cap 6 at about the middle position between the central line and the open bottom of the cap 6.
The second members 12 include a grove 12a lying on a plain orthogonal to the axle of the hub 5 at an almost median position of its central body 5a.
This protrusion 11a is designed to be inserted jerkily and complementary into the grove 12a in correspondence to the closed condition C of the closure 1.
It is proper to notice that such first and second members, 11 and 12, could likewise consist respectively of more recesses and groves differently conformed, both continuous and discontinuous, without going out from the scope of the present invention.
Figure 4 shows a second embodiment of such hooking means 10 in which the first members 11 and the second members 12 essentially consist respectively of a series of recesses 11b and a series of groves 12b disposed parallel respectively as regards the axle of the cap 6 and the hub 5.
The closure 1 of the aforementioned embodiments is preferably made of plastic heat-deformable material and therefore, in this case, it is of the so-called type "thermoformed."
A third embodiment of the closure 1 is shown in Figures 5, 6, and 7. Particularly the hub 5 has the upper free edge 5b protruding outwardly the tubular central body 5a of the hub itself.
In this embodiment, the hooking means 10 include first and second hooking members, 11' and 12', that respectively consist of a ring pad 13 of the inner wall of the cap 6, disposed in proximity with the closed bottom 6a of this latter, and of the perimetric zone of a protrusion 15, for instance a collar, of the upper edge 5b of the hub 5.
The pad 13 is fit to go beyond, jerkily, the collar 15 in correspondence to the closed condition C of the closure 1.
This pad 13 can moreover be carried out in a discontinuous manner or more simply could be made with a pair of ring segments protruding from the inside wall of the cap 6.
It is an important feature of the invention, but not essential, that the closure according to this embodiment is made of plastic extruded material and that therefore the closure is so-called "thermoplastic".
The closure of the all abovementioned embodiments, could have transversal section different from the circular one, for instance it could be square, hexagonal, without getting out the scope of the claimed invention.
The usage of such a closure for containers of liquid, granular or powdery products is extremely simple because, beginning from the closed condition C where the cap 6 is coupled to the relative hub 5, the operator must at first uncouple the cap 6 from the hub 5, then "tears away" the sheet element 7 from this latter to define for the closure 1 the condition of the first fruition F of the product packaged inside the container 2.
Once the operator has poured the packaged product trough the closure 1, this latter could be brought again into the closed condition C simply "overturning" the cap 6 onto the hub 5 till the first hooking members 11, 11' fit, or couple with friction between the parts, into the second members 12, 12' so as to make no hermetic closure of the container 1, on the contrary making an "aroma-seal" closure of the product still remained packaged inside the container.
This closure 1 is advantageously conformed not only for its usage, but also for its easer fastening to semi-stiff containers of liquid or powdery products.
Direct consequence of what above exposed is the simple making of such closures, particularly of the thermoformed type, and therefore of the relatively low cost of the apparatuses for thermoforming thereof and the consequent low single cost of each of these closures.
Further feature of all embodiments of the abovementioned closure is that it is possible to pour completely the product packaged inside the container by virtue of the particular conformation of each closure.
The main advantage is therefore to provide a closure fit to seal hermetically the container onto which it is fixed and to allow the subsequent closure, after the first fruition, so as to save the aroma of the product still contained therein without having the useless prerogative of capping again hermetically the container itself.
Another advantage is to provide a closure in which the hub is fastenable onto the outer surface of the container both before its filling and after the product is already being dosed therein; by virtue of this hub it is moreover possible to achieve the complete fruition of the packaged product.
Another advantage is to provide a closure fit to guarantee the fulfil of the hygienic rules indispensable for the good maintenance of the product packaged inside the container both when this latter is sealed or when it has been already opened for the first time.
A further advantage is to provide a closure carried out without expensive apparatuses requiring none extremely sophisticated or customised devices for making the closures.
Further advantage of the invention is to provide a closure of simple making and fastening, easy usage, relatively safe tight and extremely contained cost.

Claims

Closure of a container (2) of liquid, granular or powdery products, preferably parallelepipedal shaped and provided with a pouring opening (4), said closure (1) being characterised in that includes:
- a hub (5) defined by a tubular central body (5a), an upper free edge (5b) and a base (5c) fixed, outwardly to the cited container (2), peripherally to the cited pouring opening (4);

- a cap (6) removably matchable with the cited hub (5) in correspondence to a closed condition (C) of the cited closure (1);

- a sheet element (7) peripherally welded to the cited upper edge (5b) of the cited hub (5) and removable in correspondence to a first fruition condition (F) of the product packaged inside the cited container (2);

- hooking means (10) fit to maintain joined said cap (6) to said hub (5) in correspondence to the cited closed condition (C).
Closure according to claim 1 characterised in that said cap (6) is hinged to the cited base (5c) of said hub (5) through a flexible tongue (14).
Closure according to claim 2 characterised in that said tongue (14) is formed in single block with the cap (6) and the hub (5).
Closure according to claim 1 characterised in that said hooking means (10) include first members (11') carried out on the side inner surface of said cap (6) and second members (12') carried out on the side wall of the cited central body (5a) of the cited hub (5), being said first (11') and second (12') members matchable complementary in correspondence to the cited closed condition (C).
Closure according to claim 4 characterised in that said first members (11) and said second members (12) essentially consist respectively of at least a protrusion (11a) and at least a grove (12a) disposed respectively transversely as regards the axles of the cited cap (6) and the cited hub (5).
Closure according to claim 4 characterised in that said first members (11) and said second members (12) essentially consist respectively of a series of recesses (11b) and a series of groves (12b) respectively disposed parallel as regards the axle of the cited cap (6) and the cited hub (5).
Closure according to claim 1 characterised in that it is carried out by means of a plastic heat-deformable material.
Closure according to claim 1 characterised in that the upper free edge (5b) of the cited hub (5) is protruding toward the outside from the cited central body (5a).
Closure according to claim 4 and claim 7 characterised in that said first members (11') essentially consist of at least a pad (13) of the inside wall of the cited cap (6) near to its closed bottom (6a) and that said second members (12') consist of a protrusion (15) of the cited upper edge (5b) of the cited hub (5), said first members (11') being designed to go beyond jerkily the cited protrusion (15) in correspondence to the cited closed condition (C).
Closure according to claim 8 characterised in that it is made of extruded plastic material.
Closure according to any of the preceding claims characterised in that the cited hub (5) and the cited cap (6) have frustum of cone shapes.